Should I give up the ghost now?

Music in My Heart · Sep 12, 2007

I don't know about the TEAS test but the math in chemistry is pretty rudimentary - certainly college algebra is sufficient - and it's a pretty small portion of the total body of knowledge.

Get yourself a tutor and make sure you have the time to devote to your studies and you'll probably be OK.

For what it's worth, a number of schools only require you to get a B in chemistry in order to matriculate so I wouldn't quit before even getting started.

What do you have to lose by taking a single chemistry class to see how it goes?

turbohound · Sep 15, 2007

You won't encounter any math harder than algebra. Just basic conversions.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Sep 16, 2007

I want to give you an answer that is based more upon your character and behavior. A nurse is a problem solver. That is what we are paid to do. There wasn't a day as a working RN that went by that I wasn't bombarded with all kinds of problems I had to solve. Many I had solved before, but occasionally a new one came along that I had had no experience with. Throughout my career as an RN I had a few of my own "ghosts" to face. I'm telling you that your situation with math is not going to be your only "ghost". And, I'm speaking from my own experience. You haven't even met the new "ghosts" that are going to show up yet. But, this you have to figure out for yourself. . .how are you going to handle them? This is about facing and conquering a challenge. This is a test of your character. A career in nursing is going to challenge your character every day. When I interviewed people for jobs, one of the things I asked was "Tell me about a difficult (problem, situation, class) you had in the past and how you dealt with it." I want to know what you're made of and if you have the drive, intelligence and initiative to self-correct yourself and improve. Well, do you? Because that is what a really good nurse is able to do.

When I started working on an ICU stepdown unit, we had a lot of patients with chest tubes coming out of the ICU. One of the surgeons was an old curmudgeon who was known to be very intimidating to new RNs (of which I was one) and would confront them, deliberately, with questions about what we would do if a patient's chest tube fell out or how we were supposed to detect a leak in one of these tubes. If you didn't know the answer you got a tongue lashing. Well, I certainly didn't want that! I didn't know my chest tubes that well and I lived in fear of him confronting me. Was this silly? I had enough to worry about without being on the lookout for this old codger. The answer was very simple. . .open a book and learn the information. :smackingf And, after getting over my anxiety, that's what I did. I was relentless about it too, actually went overboard about it and then looked for every patient with a chest tube to take care of and became the unofficial unit expert on it. And, do you know that many of my fellow nurses were more than willing to let me take on a chest tube patient off their hands because that meant they didn't have to deal with them--because they carried that "ghost" of not knowing how to deal with chest tubes themselves. Freedom is a great thing, but it doesn't come without effort.

Years before that I had done the same thing with IV's and IV insertions. You wouldn't believe how crappy I was at it when I first started out and it bothered me a lot. I eventually became nationally certified in IV therapy. It is the one thing I truly brag that I am a master at now.

So, I'm telling you that math is just one "ghost". Many more will follow. Of this I am sure. Yours may not be IVs or chest tubes but other things. You are no smarter or dumber than any of us. What you are is YOU. The difference is how YOU decide to deal with this. The result will be how much you will grow and learn as a person. It will also teach your 3-year old some things about being a human being that they will never learn from a book. The one thing about being a nurse is that you will experience more personal growth and learning than most people. That is the gift that nursing gives back to you. It is more valuable than the paychecks you will collect. You can't buy this in a store and the prize is learning how to face and overcome your fears and anxieties.

Jenpea71 · Sep 17, 2007

Thank you so much for this note. You have no idea how it touched me and has really empowered me to continue on. I know that I was meant to be a nurse and can do this! I just have to take it one semester at a time and "keep on truckin'" as the saying goes. Thank you so much for your time.

Jen

ohmeowzer RN, RN · Sep 17, 2007

don't you ever give up.. math was my worst subject... i have never been good at math, and i thought for sure the math would fail me in RN school. that i just couldn't do it.. but somehow i did... and i passed and now i am a RN. if i can do it you can to... never give up your dream...